Convince Me Which Caliber to go With

hoytcanon said:
And yet... when I was in Africa in March there was a lady there from Spain, she would have been 110 pounds soaked... she was shooting a svelt European rifle in .338 Win Mag with 220 grain bullets. We were at the range together and I saw her shoot 20 rounds out to 400 yards. We had a brief conversation about rifles and she asked if she could try my .375 WSM and I said "sure," she then proceeded to drill the center of the bullseye at 300 yards. She subsequently took ten animals with a single shot each... granted, she was a pretty kick-azz little lady, but at 110 pounds you can't convince me that an average sized male can't handle that rifle, unless he believes going into it that he can't handle the rifle.... hmmmm, what do we call that?
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I'm 160 pounds soaking wet with a spine/pelvic/shoulder disabilty and my go to rifle is the ruger m77 mkII in 7mm rem mag. It's not light but i manage and to "tame" the sharpness of the recoil i installed a recoil reducing buttpad. I'd have to look as to whether it's a limbsaver or a decellerator but they both work well. I also have a remington 700 in a minimalist weight carbon composite stock in .338 win mag with the same type of recoil pad. I don't have any trouble hunting with either rifle and don't understand why anyone else would have issues, considering my physical limitation compared to most able bodied folks. I shot a .416 rigby single shot rifle once...... and i stress "once" LOL now that was some recoil LOL
 
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Rman said:
As far as this goes... Mountain hunting to most is UltraLight, which is around 6 pounds all up. Light weight stuff starts around 7 all up. This is usually a short action with a light stock, short barrel and so on.
Based on that... and the distance, a suggestion would be a true short action rifle and a fast 7mm. WSM or SAUM. You get the speed you need and the payload. required.

R.
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I appreciate the input!
 
jmill said:
I appreciate the input!
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There are several "recipies" available to achieve what you're looking for. You just have to decide which one fits you and your budget the best. Lots of guys have spent a pile of money only to find out it's too heavy, doesn't fit, feels cold, kicks too hard, and doesn't perform.

R.
 
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Rman said:
The flinch, or the result from it, isn't mostly in your head. It's mostly an unvoluntary reflex to multiple stimulations at the same time. Mostly.
You can't control the reflex when the doctor hits your knee with hammer... but you may control some of it if you hit the knee with the hammer yourself.
People get used to it the same way as everything else. Practice.
If you blink, you flinch. The degree of flinch is mitigated with practice. Lots of guys wear two sets of hearing protection, Other shoot free recoil, others have a firm hold, and so on.
It can't be eliminated, but obviously it can be controlled. Mostly.

R.
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Totally agree. One way to know if you flinch cause you might not think you do is to have someone look at you while you squeeze the trigger or even better yet film you while you do so! If you do flinch try with an other rifle in a lighter recoiling chambering and see if you still do. If you still do then there is a bit of work ahead of you to get rid of it, mainly putting the big recoiling gun away or at least just doing some dry firing to have good trigger control and flinch control.
 
Guess my .338 is kinda tubby, it weighs 8 1/4 scoped. It’s my walking around in high places gun. Far far from my biggest one. As everyone who knows has already said, recoil is between your ears and can be dealt with. Get the gun with the ballistics you need and learn to shoot it.
 
Flinching happens BEFORE anything physical takes place... it is a glitch in the brain that causes involuntary nervous muscular contractions... the reason for it is that your MIND has not been properly conditioned for what is about to occur, namely, a bang and a push. Creating dread in your own mind for the "bang & push" causes it to become a bigger deal than it is. The FIRST step to controlling flinching is to control how you think about the shot. If you do not control your thinking first, practice can and likely will only make it worse... increasing "dread" with each successive shot. Rather than storing information that leads to anxiety, you forcibly store information that leads to satisfaction or excitement... in essence you "fake it, until you make it." Your mind can be tricked into enjoying something in the same way it can be tricked into dreading that same thing.This why flinching (or target panic) is primarily mental. You have all heard the phrase "mind over matter," which applies to this subject as well.
 
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